Category: Latest Panthers News

Another NFL expert takes Baker Mayfield over Sam Darnold in Panthers’ QB competition

Yet another NFL expert believes Baker Mayfield has the distinct edge over Sam Darnold in the Panthers’ ongoing QB battle.

The writing may be on the wall for the Carolina Panthers’ quarterback competition, and it’s continuing to read “Baker Mayfield.”

Another league expert has thrown his two cents into the Baker bucket this week, stating Sam Darnold’s track record pales in comparison to Mayfield’s. And that man is NFL.com analyst and noted film hawk Brian Baldinger.

“If I put the résumé up of Baker Mayfield vs. Sam Darnold, it’s not even close,” Baldinger exclaimed. “Baker Mayfield comes in, he’s the No. 1 pick in Cleveland, he sets an NFL record for touchdown passes by a rookie in a season—he did it in 13 starts. Baker Mayfield went into Heinz Field and came out of the tunnel and led his team to a playoff victory against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Sam Darnold can’t make that claim.”

Unfortunately for Darnold, he can’t make a lot of claims over Mayfield to this point. The first overall selection of the 2018 draft has trumped the third overall selection of the 2019 draft in passing yards (14,125 to 10,624), passing touchdowns (92 to 54), completion percentage (61.6 to 59.8), passer rating (87.8 to 76.9), yards per attempt (7.3 to 6.5) and has been apart of more wins as a starter (29 to 17).

Baldinger went on to praise Mayfield’s makeup as well, stating he’s primed to take advantage of his potentially prosperous opportunity with the Panthers in 2022.

“This guy is born to compete,” he said. “That’s when you get him at his best. He’s not always going to be nice or friendly or maybe even team-focused sometimes. But this guy is going to go into Carolina, and he’s got this one carrot dangling in front of him, every day—those Cleveland Browns that he used to quarterback are coming to Carolina Week 1. Like, that is gonna motivate this guy every single day in this competition.”

And remember—if you happen to attend that season opener at Bank of America Stadium, do not bring one of Mayfield’s Browns jersey.

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Biggest takeaways from Week 1 of Panthers 2022 training camp

Before the Panthers begin their second week of training camp on Monday, let’s revisit some key moments from their first five days at Wofford College.

The Carolina Panthers are about to dive into the second week of training camp on the summer. But before they do, let’s look back at the most important takeaways from their first five days in Spartanburg, S.C.

Panthers announce ‘Keep Pounding Game’ to honor Sam Mills

On Saturday, the Panthers announced they’ll host a “Keep Pounding Game” in honor of soon-to-be Pro Football Hall of Famer Sam Mills.

It may have taken a bit too long, but Carolina Panthers icon Sam Mills is finally getting his due among the game’s greats, and the love won’t be limited to Canton, Ohio.

On Saturday, the organization announced it’ll host a “Keep Pounding Game” this season in honor of the legendary linebacker. The dedication will come in Week 4, when the Panthers host the Arizona Cardinals at Bank of America Stadium on Oct. 2.

The family and a number of former teammates of Mills, who died in 2005, will be on hand for the event, as will representatives from the Hall. Additionally, his long-awaited bust will be unveiled at halftime.

Mills, of course, was finally selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame back on Feb. 10, in his 20th and final year of eligibility as part of the modern-era pool. He will be enshrined on Aug. 6 alongside Tony Boselli, LeRoy Butler, Richard Seymour, Bryant Young, Cliff Branch, Art McNally and Dick Vermeil.

On a side note, the Panthers have won six straight games against the Cardinals. So there’s a decent chance this special afternoon could end on a special note.

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PFF tabs Panthers’ ‘secret superstar’ heading into 2022 season

Which Panthers player is a low-key star? Pro Football Focus has their pick.

Plenty of hog mollies have come and gone along the Carolina Panthers’ offensive line since 2017. But there has been one shining constant.

And that constant is right tackle Taylor Moton, who was named the team’s “secret superstar” by Pro Football Focus as we head into the 2022 campaign. Lead NFL analyst Sam Monson writes that the sixth-year veteran is amongst the game’s best big men, even if he hasn’t gotten the recognition for it.

“Those who follow offensive line play closely know that Moton is one of the best in the league, but to others, he remains a name that doesn’t get enough publicity,” Monson suggests. “Carolina’s offensive line last season was four problem spots and Moton, who still earned an impressive 77.5 overall PFF grade and allowed just one sack despite the chaos around him. With the Panthers doing a lot of good things this offseason, the entire offense may look significantly better in 2022, allowing Moton to get a little more of the credit he deserves.”

Some of those good things include tracking down promising line mates for Moton. He’ll be joined by 2022 sixth overall pick Ikem Ekwonu as well as free-agent signings Austin Corbett and Bradley Bozeman to make for what should be the franchise’s best starting front in a number of years.

Moton will also be blocking, most likely, for Baker Mayfield—who the Panthers acquired back on July 6. Although Mayfield may not be a superstar himself, he could be the most potent passer the Panthers have rostered since the first go-round of Cam Newton.

We’ll see if all of that results in a better offense and, hopefully, more love for the always reliable Moton.

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Panthers HC Matt Rhule: ‘I couldn’t be more pleased’ with Baker Mayfield

The “real” practices begin next week for the Panthers. But HC Matt Rhule has liked what he’s seen from QB Baker Mayfield thus far.

There hasn’t been too much for Carolina Panthers head coach Matt Rhule to judge quite yet in his team’s ongoing quarterback competition. But he’s pretty happy with what he has seen, particularly from the new guy.

Following this summer’s installment of “Back Together Saturday,” Rhule spoke to reporters about the state of his squad through the first week of training camp. When asked about how well Baker Mayfield has come along, he said he can’t ask for anything more to this point.

“He’s through the fourth install,” Rhule stated in prefacing his reply. “I’ll know more next week as we get into more situations. But I couldn’t be more pleased with Baker—how much he’s learned of what we’ve done. But there’s way more to put in to kinda get through that phase.”

The “real” practices, as Rhule also alluded to, begin next week—when the team returns from their Sunday break with pads. And it’ll be then—for Mayfield, Sam Darnold and even Matt Corral—when the actual battle commences.

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Best of Panthers’ ‘Back Together Saturday’

Check out the best scenes and observations from the Panthers’ Back Together Saturday.

Saturday wasn’t just any regular Saturday for the Carolina Panthers. It was “Back Together Saturday!”

The team’s fourth training camp practice of the summer saw folks file in for a festive get-together–players, family, fans and media alike. Here are the top scenes and observations from the fun afternoon.

Panthers sign former Patriots 2nd-round pick

The Panthers have signed CB Duke Dawson out of tryouts following Friday’s training camp practice.

Between Jaycee Horn being placed on the active-physically unable to perform list and Rashaan Melvin hanging up the cleats on an eight-year career, the Carolina Panthers quickly grew a bit thin in their secondary.

So, as previously promised by head coach Matt Rhule, the team worked out some cornerbacks following Friday’s practice. And out of that has come the signing of Duke Dawson.

A 2017 First-team All-SEC selection and standout at the University of Florida, Dawson was selected in the second round of the 2018 NFL draft by the New England Patriots. After sustaining a hamstring injury that kept him out of the better part of his rookie campaign, the 5-foot-10 corner would not play a single snap for Bill Belichick’s squad.

He—along with a seventh-round pick—would later be traded to the Denver Broncos prior to the 2019 season in exchange for a sixth-round selection. Dawson played in 26 games for Denver between 2019 and 2020—registering 27 combined tackles, two passes defensed and a fumble recovery over four starts.

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Panthers WR Robbie Anderson moves on from past comments about Baker Mayfield

Here’s why Panthers WR Robby Anderson, who has zero beef with Baker Mayfield, is now Panthers WR Robbie Anderson.

Back in April, Carolina Panthers wideout Robbie Anderson (Robby Anderson, at the time) made it clear that he wasn’t interested in having quarterback Baker Mayfield (Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield, at the time) on his team. But now that he is indeed on his team, has the air been cleared?

According to Anderson, it didn’t have to be.

The seventh-year receiver spoke with reporters on Friday following the third installment of training camp practice. When asked by Joseph Person of The Athletic if he felt he had to patch things up with Mayfield, Anderson stated that there was no need.

“Nah,” he said. “That’s, like, kinda water under the bridge.”

Per usual, Anderson was short and sweet with his answer.

But since the media had him, he was also asked about that aforementioned name change. Why go from “Robby” to “Robbie?”

Well, on top of just liking how it looks, he sees it as a rebirth of sorts.

“Yeah, you could say that in a sense,” he told team beat writer Sheena Quick. “That’s how I used to spell it, though, when I was younger. Then I switched it to the ‘y.’ But I kinda like how it look on paper better with the ‘ie.’ And when I had ‘ie,’ I had the No. 3, too. Like, throwback, know what I’m sayin’?”

Anderson, of course, also switched uniform numbers this offseason—dumping his No. 11 for that throwback 3.

So maybe Mayfield and Anderson don’t have to talk anything out considering it was Robby, not Robbie, that resented the trade.

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Panthers CB Jaycee Horn wants you to spam Madden NFL 23 ratings hotline

Panthers CB Jaycee Horn has asked fans to hit up the Madden NFL 23 adjustor ratings hotline to help get his marks up.

Carolina Panthers cornerback Jaycee Horn is taking matters into his own hands.

On Friday, the second-year defender took to Twitter in protest of EA Sports and their upcoming release of Madden NFL 23. Specifically, he’s not exactly happy with some of the ratings the game’s developers have saddled him with.

That phone number you see up there will lead you to the Madden ratings adjustor hotline. There, you can talk with an adjustor and try to settle your disagreements on any of your favorite players’ marks.

For Horn, he stated he’d like to see his overall, catch and man coverage ratings hiked up accordingly. Currently, the 2021 eighth overall selection carries a 75 overall with a 72 and a 74 in hands and coverage, respectively.

To his credit, we already know those mitts are better than what the game is giving him credit for. Like, how many guys can actually do this . . . ?

So grab your phones and get on it!

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Panthers look ahead to 2023 draft with scouting department moves

The Panthers are already preparing for the 2023 NFL Draft, rearranging their scouting department with various promotions and reassignments.

A few days ago, Carolina Panthers rookie Ikem Ekwonu and his fellow 2022 draft mates arrived in Spartanburg, S.C. for their first NFL training camp. Now, the team is already preparing for the 2023 draft, rearranging their scouting department with various promotions and reassignments.

While Carolina hasn’t had a household name in the department since Luke Kuechly resigned from his pro scout position last year, they’ve rearranged a few scouting personnel Thursday evening, per Joseph Person of The Athletic.

At the top, the Panthers promoted Rob Hanrahan from their assistant director of pro personnel to their director of pro scouting. After the team hired him as a pro scout in 2017, Hanrahan quickly worked his way up the ranks with the Panthers.

Prior to that, he spent 16 seasons with the Buffalo Bills in various positions including director of pro personnel for two years. Hanrahan now replaces Matt Allen as the new director of pro scouting following Allen’s departure from the team in February.

The team also promoted Tyler Ramsey from their national college scout to their assistant director of pro scouting. Scott Fitterer brought Ramsey with him from Seattle when he was hired as the new general manager in Carolina. Ramsey spent 12 seasons with the Seahawks, working his way up from a personnel intern in 2009 to an area scout in 2012.

In four other moves, the Panthers promoted Robert Haynes from their southeast area scout to their national college scout, reassigned Eli Montague from the northeast region to the southwest region to replace Jonathan Fields, hired Michael Coe from the Senior Bowl to become the new northeast area scout and promoted Corey Fuller from a scouting assistant position to their West Coast area scout. Fuller will replace Jon Howard, who left Carolina to become the Kansas City Chiefs’ national scout.

Looks like Fitterer found a few things to keep him busy while Matt Rhule focuses on the QB competition at training camp.

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